Harlem’s Rev. Butts Hints at Running for Congress, Endorses Thompson

Reverend Dr. Calvin Butts, center, seen in 2011, hinted that he would run for Congress on Friday.

Reverend Dr. Calvin Butts, the leader of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, revealed on Friday that he may run for Rep. Charles Rangel‘s congressional seat.

Dr. Butts dropped the heavy hint while endorsing former Comptroller Bill Thompson for mayor on the corner of 125th St. and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem.

As the event drew to a close, Dr. Butts said, “So I might want to help Bill Thompson by going down to Washington and taking the seat he had,” pointing up at a statue of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who preceded Mr. Rangel.

Asked after if he was mulling a run, Dr., Butts said: “I’m thinking about it.” The Abyssinian Baptist Church is a religious and cultural stronghold that is more than 200 years old.

Before his announcement, Dr. Butts praised Mr. Thompson — who has been middling in the polls — as “the best candidate in the Democratic primary and I think he is poised to provide excellent leadership for our city.”

“It takes someone with citywide experience, someone who knows what the budget is really like. The budget coming up for New York City is going to be a very difficult one, one that’s really really hard to negotiate. We need someone who has the experience, who is able to negotiate, and someone who can work with the unions… we believe strongly that that person is Bill Thompson,” Dr. Butts said.

He went on to praise Mr. Thompson’s proposals for education — a key policy area, he said — in particular his pledge to give a year’s free tuition to students averaging a B+ or better.

About four years ago, Dr. Butts endorsed Mayor Michael Bloomberg for reelection — even though he had earlier pledged his endorsement to Mr. Thompson. He explained the shift on Friday, saying Mayor Bloomberg had been “one of the best mayors the city of New York had ever seen.”

Mr. Thompson, visibly moved by the endorsement, said he was “humbled” and would “throw out” his prepared comments: “because trying to follow him, words on paper aren’t going to be able to do it.”

Claudio Papapietro for The Wall Street

Bill Thompson greeting voters in the Bronx on Wednesday.

“This is one of those moments where you’re following one of the great speakers, one of the great leaders of the city of New York,” Mr. Thompson added. “Let me thank him for his support; let me thank him for his belief in my ability to lead this city.”

He later said: “it feels better than it did in 2009, obviously.”

Taking questions from reporters, Dr. Butts was asked why polls show the black vote appearing to lean towards Public Advicate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio. “You gotta watch the polls,” he replied, calling them historically inaccurate. “What do I say to African-Americans? I say yes, I stand with Bill Thompson because I think he is the enlightened African-American who can provide great leadership for this city.”

Dr. Butts said, as a victim of police stop-and-frisk himself, he respected Mr. Thompson’s more restrained position on the tactic. “No one — and you all know my history, I have fought against police brutality, I have been a victim of stop and frisk — has criticized the police more than I have. But I know the job that they have to do.”

Dr. Butts also said he respected the other Democratic primary candidates. “I don’t say anything against Bill de Blasio, or Christine Quinn for that matter, but I’m speaking for Bill Thompson. I think I can work with him,” he said.

But in an apparent swipe at Mr. de Blasio’s policy plans, he said, “We need somebody who can do business. You just can’t say you’re just going to tax the rich, you know, just generally speaking like that. This city spins around Wall Street. And you’ve got to work with that street in order to bring prosperity to New York.”

Mr. de Blasio’s spokesman said, “New York City’s future depends on tackling inequality that has left nearly half of all New Yorkers at or near poverty. Bill de Blasio believes that a modest tax increase on the wealthiest New Yorkers that can fund truly universal pre-kindergarten.”